Anyone else had 'fun' trying to get the old oil filter out of a Felicia 1.9D? It's fiddly, unless you take off the tin undershield - which is a whole other job in itself. My Heath Robinson solution has been to cut a hole (big enough to allow the filter to get through) in the undershield immediately below the oil filter with an angle grinder (carefully as there are pipes and such running across the car here). This gives access to the filter which can be loosened with a bar (if it's the genuine VW part).

Next get an empty plastic 2-litre coca cola bottle - I find the genuine coca cola bottle is best for what comes next. Cut the bottle in two at it's widest point (about the middle) and discard the lower half - you want the half with the screw top intact.

With the filter loosened, slip the top half of the bottle over the filter and use it to turn the filter. The oil released now goes into the half bottle and not up your sleeve. Keep turning the bottle and eventually the filter drops off the thread and into the bottle with little/no mess and unburnt fingers!

Then you can tip the whole lot into a funnel on your waste oil container and let the filter drain.

It works and saves a lot of time and mess.

Personally I just undo the six or so screws on the under tray.

I also cut the tray with an angle grinder.

I will try the coke bottle tip next week.

Cheers Jim

Is it really that difficult to take the under tray off?

You have to be there :thumbdwn:

I have many times..lol

Yeah it ain't fun - I have done it quite a few times now. Trick is when you put the screws back in to put some WD40 on them as well, and if they are too rusty, replace them!

I removed the screws and nylon block inserts and used nuts & bolts instead... seemed to me much easier.....

Tried the coke bottle tip, worked a treat.

Any one know what the oil filter removal tool is called for the genuine filter?

Thanks Jim

Thanks for the feedback, Jim. Glad it worked for you too.

With regard to the oil filter removal tool, I normally use a flat piece of metal about 8 inches long (or 2/3 of a foot if you've gone metric) and 1 1/2 inches wide. I'm sure there's some kind of genuine VW tool, but it probably costs a fortune. Have you tried Halfords?